Lets get that M-16 off the ground

[Robert Anderson]

Since we lost our studio a couple of years ago due to lockdowns etc my M-16 has been on the ground, unused in my bedroom, this week a guy is building a mezzanine for my bed to make space for the studio underneath, he is going to also construct a frame to support the M-16, I have the operation maintenance folder but can't find the weight listed, any ideas?

 

[Laszlo]

M216 weighs some 12 kg. I am not aware of any M16 mixers.

 

[Robert Anderson]

Thanks laszlo, it's very heavy this beast

 

[Robert Anderson]

I should say that it is the 1982 issue mixing desk with the 85-16B tape recorder

 

[Laszlo]

I can reckon now, sorry. It is the brother of M15 both are great mixers, fully modular. I saw a nice video some time ago on the restauration and conversion of an M 15, worth to look into it:

 

[Laszlo]

It says athe end of this manual that it is some 300 lbs..
https://www.manualslib.com/download/1004599/Tascam-M-16.html

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Yes it is a large mixer and it took two guys to put it on the roll around bench we had at Teac 291 pounds. We only saw these 1 or 2 times.

 

[Robert Anderson]

Ah, thanks very much for your help, that is fantastic, my weedy arty arms can't move it an inch

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Well I am no weight lifter myself but we at Teac brought the unit through the regular door and then laid it on the roll around bench they had constructed. I think to get it through the door we had three guys but then when in the shop we only had two. Working on mixers like this is something that you do on sight without moving it much. I had to take apart a Yamaha $21,000 mixing board at Moody and we took everything out and took it into the studio on a carpet floor to work on it. Some of this stuff is now well thought out to be worked on after it is made. The Chicago Service I was at was in Arlington Heights, 539 W Golf Rd.

 

[Robert Anderson]

We got it moved, once the work is done and the stand comes for it I'll no doubt open it up and investigate the individual modules if need be, it'll need calibrated and cleaned at least...

Sounds like an interesting job you had up there in the heights.... I'm in Glasgow, Scotland, doin' the Joe Meek thing, sans shotgun and landlady...

 

[SkywaveTDR]

In the M16 I worked on there is no calibration in it. Some mixers used single transistor amps that were pretty noisy and would have benefited from a better design. To think that mixers have all kinds of pots in them for calibration is not correct as most the time in Tascam mixers they are designed with stable circuits and the result is a level that is near perfect. The pots that are there are usually those on the top of module. Remember there is a lot of room for improvements and remember when this was made and for what price level. You will not find the same product design as a Neve board or a SSL that cost $100,000 as it was not built to those standards. With appropriate design skills one can upgrade sections using very quiet Op Amps and low noise resistors. An Engineer at Shure brothers told me the most quiet resistors are wire wound. Keep in mind that with what product of design you are working with. Shure makes Mics and did make phono cartridges but I understand they stopped. Shure location in Niles IL is where a lot of AES meeting are held.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

There were mixers made later than these that made then M15 look substandard. The M520 or the original M50 I bought did a wonderful job for that price range. I worked on M3700 at some studios but keep in mind many places where parts can be upgraded- some pots can be replaced by plastic conductor. It all depends on what you want. At Moody radio I had a PR&E console fitted with a optical encoder and a digital pot for monitor but the board ops could not handle that there was no end stop of the pot so we had to put one in.